Southeast’s Adriyana Ruffin and Kemper County’s Trinity Westerfield fight for possession in a tough matchup Tuesday night.

Favorites to make it back to the 3A state championship, the Southeast Tigers are off to a rocky start as they fell short at home against Kemper County 50-46 on Tuesday night.

The Tigers emerged onto the floor with a lot of energy, but careless turnovers gave Kemper the window to take an early lead.

Kemper guard Lebron Johnson, who finished with 30 points, pushed the Tigers to the limit in every way as they struggled to find an answer defensively.

Trailing 29-18 at the half, the Tigers attempted to make big plays for a quick comeback, but as they raised their play, so did Kemper.

The Tigers fought hard to cut the lead down to five points within the last minute, but it was not enough to get them over the hump.

Demondre’ Graham led the Tigers with 10 points.

“Kemper did a great job coming out with a lot of energy and intensity,” said coach Centel Truman. “My guys must understand that they have a target on their backs because of how far we went last season. We have to play every game and possession with the same intensity.”

Truman said expectations are high for the Tigers, but they need leadership from the seniors to push this team in the right direction.

“We got a lot of seniors, and at some point, they will need to step up,” he said. “They have to understand that leadership starts with them, so I’m praying that the guys I know will turn things around and get us going.”

KEMPER COUNTY 47, SOUTHEAST GIRLS 30

Senior guard Rodezah Smith filled the stat sheet with 22 points for the Lady Wildcats as they won at Southeast Lauderdale Tuesday.

Robynn Jennings scored 13 points for Kemper County, and Seraiah Little added four points for the Lady Wildcats.

The game was tied 22-14 at the half, and Kemper County turned up the intensity on defense and proved to be too much for the Lady Tigers as they pulled away with a big lead late in the fourth.

Monica Riley had 13 points for Southeast Lauderdale.

Southeast will be on the road Friday in a matchup against Wayne County.